Talk:Skie Silvershield/@comment-142.254.101.158-20190807153140
The case for Skie.... I have found that, especially when intending to play SOD and with a small or solo party that Skie is both useful and plot-appropriate for the Balder Gate portion of the game. When you first arrive Eldoth + Skie between them know where everything is in Balder's gate and all the personalities. This helps with metaming if you have played a few times before, justifying running straight for the action. When Eldoth gets old, kill him off in a barfight, ambush or whatever. A lot of Baldur Gate city content assumes both a good lockpicker, a thief character class or somebody who can bluff their way as a high class merchant, noble etc. Skie's backround fits perfectly for the latter (with Charname and any scruffy companions as bodyguards) - she IS a scion of a noble family that engages in merchant activities. Her "joining the thieves guild" justifies several missions. And she can open all those damn locks that a solo warrior can't without using potions+draw upon holy might and start a one-woman crime wave. She doesn't even damage the purity of a solo run, since you can just scuttle her in back and hide when trouble starts (or she runs screaming out of a house pursued by powerful guardians she intended to burgle) while charname does all the work. By now you are level capped so any xp that goes to her just improves her utility. (max lockpick, the rest to taste). Cut her loose before Candlekeep (or keep her if you want her to open locks and traps in catacombs although frankly I find potions and prot scrolls get the job done for any warrior type, and mages have their own strategies for those problems). Then, when you find out her father has been killed by Saravok's assassins (just like Gorian!), go find her and have her join you for a roaring rampage of revenge, first on the assassins, then having her bring you as her +1 for the ducal invitation and then charging throught the thief maze etc. For this I have her fight, equipping her with all the goodies I didn't need and found along the way (big fisted belt, legacy of the masters, +2 shortbow, +3 shortsword, jewelry potions etc to taste, plus arrows of biting and detonation). She's actually helpful although still second fiddle to CHARNAME on a solo run. Then in SOD she can participate in the prologue (again helpful with locks and traps if your charname doesn't do that and/or hiding in the back while you do all the killing to keep the purity of a "SOLO" run) and go on to be the important NPC she is, with enough badass credit earned taking on the last chapter of Saravok's story side by side with CHARNAME to justify how she's portrayed (she actually kicks a fair bit of ass in her cutscenes early on). Yes, she takes any equipment with her, but you don't need that on a small party or solo run where you're more likely to bring her along anyway. That's my 2 cents. She's got the stats etc to be a decent rogue in any party but I really enjoy her in a small or solo run as the late game thief. Much better than Safana from a story standpoint (plus I find Safana flirting with the PLAYER on every click more annoying than Skie complaining about breaking a nail).